


The Model Family

by Rosage



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Minor Injuries, Post-Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-16
Updated: 2016-11-16
Packaged: 2018-08-30 18:05:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8543614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosage/pseuds/Rosage
Summary: Sakura's doll collection gains some much-needed additions.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this during the summer but felt the urge to post it now. It's inspired by Sakura's supports with Kaze and her B support with Saizo. Thank you to merewiowing for previewing the final version.

The knife shook in Sakura’s hands. Its edge had already shaved off one of the sideburns from the doll in her lap, scattering fibers on her knee. If she messed up the other side, she’d have to start all over, including the gruesome process of removing and painting over the doll’s right eye.

Mother and her retainers had taught Sakura how to sew, paint, and arrange flowers. She wasn’t talented, but as long as nobody watched over her shoulder, her hands normally didn’t shake like they did when she learned the staff or bow. Still, she’d never done this type of crafting. The dolls of her siblings looked only a little like them—a knight with red hair for Hinoka, and so forth. If she was going to cling to her dolls, they could at least be more sophisticated.

Her collection had felt incomplete for a while. Looking at her blue-haired doll gave her a pang now, but if she’d always had a doll for Azura, then why not the others she grew up around? First on her agenda had been Hana, the only person to whom Sakura hadn’t been scared to show the result. She’d asked Sakura to make one of herself for Hana to keep—probably to display on her mantle below her swords, as if Sakura’s toys belonged there, but Sakura couldn’t turn down a request from her best friend.

She’d just finished Kaze, as he was the main reason she’d felt comfortable enough to do this. It felt right to make Saizo next. It helped that Kaze had seen her original dolls without laughing, and that Sakura couldn’t remember ever hearing Saizo laugh; she was usually the one giggling at him, which she only later worried hurt his feelings. She wouldn’t have thought a ninja would get nervous at things like she did, but then, she wouldn’t have thought he’d run from sweets, either.

Giggling at the thought made her hand jerk, slicing her finger. She gasped, not at the negligible pain, but at the blood that dripped onto the doll’s face. After dropping the knife, she wiped the blood with a thumb, smearing it across the doll’s cheek and scar.

Her eyes felt hot, threatening tears. She’d embarrassed herself enough buying the base for the dolls, donning a mask so nobody would recognize her, and now she’d have to make another trip. Besides, she’d already started thinking of this one as _Saizo_.

As if hearing her think his name, Saizo melted out from the shadows, making her lurch back on her heels. “S-Saizo? How long have you been there?” He couldn’t read her mind, could he? If anyone could be summoned by a thought, it would be him.

“As long as I’ve been needed.” His tone was blank, his eye trained on the ground rather than the ruined facsimile of him that she’d clutched to her chest when he startled her, but she had the sinking feeling he meant _long enough_.

“What’s that supposed to mean? What are you doing here?”

“Following orders.” He gestured to her hands as he added, “I apologize for disturbing you, Lady Sakura, but I couldn’t ignore this.”

“I’m sorry. I’ll b-burn it right away, if you want.”

His forehead knotted. “What? This wound isn’t severe enough to be cauterized. Just tell me where you keep your medical supplies.”

It took her a second to figure out what he was talking about. On the battlefield she’d hid cuts on her arms and legs, biting her tongue through the pain so that she could heal the gashes on others’ abdomens and faces. Her eye traced Saizo’s scar, as it was easier than meeting an eye that could look back at her. “Is that why you showed up? Like you said, it’s only a scratch.”

“I cannot allow harm to come to a member of the Hoshidan royal family on my watch.”

She swallowed a sigh. “Why were you watching me in the first place?”

“The castle is on security alert. It’s probably nothing, but we’re trying to be covert.”

 _Thus why it’s me_ , he seemed to imply. “I understand. Hana and Subaki are wonderful, but they aren’t really…stealthy.”

“I will more than suffice to keep you safe. Please, pretend I’m a mere shadow.”

Maybe Ryoma was used to it, but she couldn’t pretend not to feel someone watching her, especially not when she’d been making a doll of that person. Only the more pressing worry kept her from being horrified about that. “What’s happening? Are we under a-attack?” So many years after Corrin’s kidnapping, a familiar panic threatened to choke her. _They’re coming for me this time—no, for Corrin again—they’ll kill Ryoma, and Takumi will…_

“Forgive me, my lady. I haven’t been given leave to speak of it.”

Saizo’s gravelly voice anchored Sakura. The katana on his back soothed her further; she once would have been horrified at herself for that, but after the war, she wished her bow was in reach. “Who’s watching Ryoma and the others?”

“They are adequately protected.” He’d always been tight-lipped, but it hardly seemed fair that she was being kept out of the loop. Pondering how to squeeze information from a ninja, she forced herself to meet his eye, which he averted. “Believe me, Lady Sakura, I would not have left Lord Ryoma’s side otherwise.”

Relieved, she nodded. Kagero had to be with Ryoma, then.

“In the meantime, I promised him I would not let a single drop of your blood be spilled, a mission which I seem to have already failed,” Saizo continued, the lid over his fake eye popping open. “You keep bandages here, don’t you?”

Sakura tucked her chin down, holding up the finger she’d already forgotten about. Blood had pressed into the front of her kimono in droplets that would stain it. Assuming Saizo felt as guilty as she did, she let him retrieve and wrap a thin bandage around her finger, surprising her with the dexterity of his thick, gloved hands.

“If that’s the only service you need performed, I am supposed to be on a stealth mission.”

She hadn’t needed even that, but the thought of him hiding in her room for the rest of the night made her skin crawl. “Th-there is, actually.”

“Say it and it will be done.”

“I told you once that I wanted to speak with you more, but the w-war kept us so busy. Now is a perfect chance, isn’t it?”

She recognized his momentary horror; she would have felt the same about being ordered to talk to someone. “As you wish, Lady Sakura.”

She smiled, but she didn’t speak, and neither did he. Her bandaged finger ran down the seam of her kimono, keeping her from wiggling her feet. Everything she’d ever wanted to bring up with him had fled from her mind.

The doll felt sticky in her hand. Scanning the room, her gaze fell on the rest of them, which she’d forgotten she’d lined up to watch her work. Her heart thumped when she realized he must have seen that, too. “P-please don’t tell anyone about this,” she said.

“I won’t, but why are you making these…models?”

Models—that made it sound less childish. “I only modified them, and I’m just doing a few.”

“Then why me?”

“Well, I told you. You’re like family to us. I got the dolls of my siblings after Corrin was t-taken. I was always so scared after that, so I wanted to keep something that reminded me of them.”

All pretenses gone, she held the doll of him close while he surveyed the rest, his forehead scrunched. She’d expected people to make fun of her, but she worried now that he was angry. His gaze lingered on the miniature Orochi. It had taken Sakura a while to find that shade of purple, and longer to adjust her mouth to just the right upward angle.

“You don’t need facsimiles of us to keep you safe,” Saizo said. Wondering if he could even say the word _doll_ almost made her giggle again. “We will always be close. If you’ve had reason to doubt otherwise, we’ve failed you.”

“N-no! It’s not your fault. I’m just so nervous. I thought maybe Azura n-never really felt like we were sisters, and that’s why—” She stopped herself when she choked, breathing deeply as Ryoma had taught her. “That’s why I wanted to make sure that everyone knew my feelings. That my family was here with me.”

She caught his forehead smoothing before he dipped it. “I’m…not sure I understand, but I vow to never again allow your...ah, our family to be torn apart.”

Sakura breathed out. “Thank you very much.” She loosened her grip on his doll, her heart sinking when she saw its face. “But I need to remake this one, if you don’t mind. I r-ruined it…”

“May I?” She gave it to him. While he studied it, she clasped her hands tightly together to resist picking up another one. “I think you should keep it like this. It’s…fitting.”

She wasn’t sure about that. The whole point was for this version of her family to be safe, safer than her healing or archery could ever ensure.

But even with the blood, when she took back the doll, her hands didn’t shake.


End file.
